The Spoils Of War
by Miss Kefka
Summary: Gundam Wing fan fic: a look at the thoughts running through everyone's minds immediately after the destruction of Libra.


I wrote this thing as in character as I possibly could, since the internet is abundant   
in ooc already. If it seems inaccurate to you, go check with the Odds and Evens, episode 0,  
Endless Waltz, and perhaps even Blind Target. Everything written is based on the series,   
and the things just mentioned.   
  
I am only a fan of Gundam Wing, an owner of nothing.  
  
Feel free to give me constructive criticism, flames will be ignored.  
  
  
  
The Spoils Of War  
  
  
  
***  
  
Tears that cannot fall...  
  
The final explosion of Libra lit up the screens on MO-II. The soldiers cheered and cheered,  
some shedding tears of joy, some laughing loud enough to wake the dead. In short, the   
noise was nearly deafening.  
  
Nobody dared approach Une, or it had escaped their minds in the heat of the moment, that   
the solitary figure stood alone before the large blazing screen.   
  
Alone she held back tears, whether they were tears of joy or sorrow, Une did not want   
them to fall. For the General, rather, her beloved stayed true to himself in the end.   
Reality took on a very surreal quality at that moment. Deep down inside she fantasized   
that Master Treize was invincible; he was the gallant and legendary knight that could   
slay any dragon and return victoriously to his lady. Reality, however, worked somewhat   
differently. Une was his subordinate, thought he loved her just the same. It made no   
difference now, since the dragon had slaughtered the knight.  
  
"How could things be so wrong but so right at the same time?..." she thought to herself.  
  
***  
  
The one who loves...  
  
Heero flew up through the shower of red embers in the atmosphere "Mission complete." He   
said to himself. There was a certain finality about events that satisfied him more than   
anything. Duo's familiar voice rang in on his speakers... something about celebrating and   
champagne. He could also hear Quatre's protest to the alcohol through Duo's speakers.   
Heero didn't care much if there was a party at all. A doorway to peace had been opened   
and that was all that really mattered.   
  
Heero could envision Relena smiling joyfully. The face looked less like Relena and more   
like that little girl from the L1 colony. She was smiling just as she was on that   
afternoon. He remembered the flower she gave him. In his dreams, she would only be   
screaming and crying as explosions from a tall building crushed her body. Now, she can   
spend forever in an unending field of those white flowers, playing with her puppy until   
time ended.  
  
***  
  
A sole survivor...  
  
"Well, I guess you're out of a job now, huh?..." Duo said aloud to his gundam "Don't   
worry, I wont let 'em scrap you for metal." He chuckled.  
  
Duo watched from his screen as Heero had acquired a distant look on his face. He could   
never figure the guy out. Maybe that's why he liked to bother the hell out of him. Not   
this time, Heero deserved some peace and quiet anyway.  
  
He shook his head as MO-II now held his attention. He worried a little about Hilde   
"She's made it this far even around the God of Death, I'm sure she'll pull through."   
He thought. "That girl is just so reckless like Heero, sometimes it makes me sick..."   
  
Hilde also reminded Duo of himself... the trouble he must have given Sister Helen and   
Father Maxwell. Duo looked back down at Earth. The universe was at the gates of peace,   
but Relena would definitely have her work cut out for her. If he was kept alive so long   
just to see this moment, then it could be true that God loved him, as Sister Helen had   
told him right before she passed away.  
  
"Hey what are we waiting for, guys?? Let's get back so we can have that party!..."  
  
***  
  
The one who failed...  
  
"Maxwell, how can you think of celebrating at a time like this..." Wufei thought to   
himself.   
  
He lamented his misguided sense of justice. Peace had been achieved, though he had taken   
all the wrong steps through the process. Now, that the war has ended, he is still left   
with no answers. Anger at the injustice of reality had blinded his own faculty of   
judgment for such a long time.   
  
Weakness was the only thing that could explain it. If Meiran was watching him from the   
heavens, she must be ashamed. His promise to prove himself worthy of her would go on   
unfulfilled.  
  
***  
  
An identity to claim...  
  
Trowa watched the Altron from a distance. Perhaps he was one of the few that understood   
its pilot because he knew exactly why he was always alone. Even now as every other   
person in the universe was celebrating, Chang Wufei would only grieve his mistakes.  
  
"Quatre, are you all right?..." he said, turning his attention back to the others.   
  
An image of his injured comrade appeared on the screen "I'll make it, don't worry."  
  
Trowa smiled. Quatre was always looking out for the other person. Even if it was a   
nameless mercenary from nowhere.  
  
His thoughts went back to Cathrine. He could remember the countless civilians and   
soldiers running from his gundam that night, and the one girl who stood alone on the   
battlefield, undaunted by the destruction or the terrifying Heavyarms. Lions would be   
less bold.  
  
***  
  
Broken heart behind a smiling mask...  
  
Dorothy watched the remains of Libra burn up in the atmosphere as she drifted away in her   
shuttle. Sorrow and pain had a way of piling up inside, unlike happiness, which was easily   
gone no matter how a person tried. It was the kind of thing her father lost his life to   
prevent.  
  
Truth of the matter was, Dorothy hated war. It broke her heart until only grief and   
disgust was left to mend the shredded organ. The world seemed to live in a fairy tale,   
while the few who dealt with reality carried the burden by themselves. If people would   
not bring themselves to understand, then they must be made to understand.   
  
Eventually, she thought she loved war. It would shatter the stupid dreams and false   
security the world had built around itself, exposing everyone to the reality of suffering.   
Then the burden would not simply crush the backs of the few who endured reality, but be   
carried by all.  
  
Now the universe will move towards peace. The people still do not understand and what's   
more, Treize is gone as well. She is left alone, still with her broken heart.  
  
***  
  
Empathy for another...  
  
Quatre pressed a cloth to his wound. The bleeding slowed but his body had definitely   
seen better days. He scanned the area around Libra and spotted Dorothy's shuttle.   
A smile touched his lips "At least she's ok..." he said to himself.  
  
He thought about his father, whether he would be proud of him. Like the Cinq Kingdom,   
his father supported absolute pascifism. Such was his devotion to these ideals, that   
he sacrificed his own life for it. Quatre could remember the rage he felt inside his   
heart towards the colonies for siding with Oz. Maybe his father was proud of him but   
never told him. Quatre smiled again, knowing that would be the exact thing Iria would   
have told him if he asked.  
  
Quatre looked up at his screen "Ok everyone, lets get back to MO-II. I'm sure Noin   
and the others are waiting..."  
  
***  
  
And the greater power...  
  
On the bridge of the MO-II, the large screen showed the five gundams returning in   
formation. More cheers were heard as the heroes approached the satellite.  
  
Relena stood in the midst of all this, too happy for words. Her tears fell and floated   
away in the weak gravity of MO-II. She thought about her biological father, the former   
King of Cinq. Perhaps he would not have approved of the method, but it was not a battle   
fought out of love for violence, but out of love for peace "That's probably how Noin   
would put it... I wonder if Heero thinks the same?..."  
  
Relena brushed droplets of moisture away from her face "I'm sorry father, big brother   
and I couldn't follow in your footsteps... but..." she paused for a moment. "...it's what   
you've been fighting for all along..."  
  
***  
  
Only noble and kind warriors...  
  
The gundam Epyon drifted, nearly broken in the ocean of Libra's wreckage.  
  
"Heero, you are truly qualified to live... and it seems I am still alive as well." Zechs   
said aloud "This new world does not need a soldier like me. Rather, this new battlefield   
is for doves like my sister to fight."  
  
Zechs transferred all auxiliary power to propulsion and life support. The gundam moved   
out of the debris and away from Earth.  
  
***  
  
Patience for one more day...  
  
Noin noticed Lady Une by herself before the large screen. She knew how the Countess must   
be feeling at the moment. When Zechs sided with White Fang, Noin had felt the same   
devistating blow to her heart as well.   
  
But there was a difference between the Countess and herself. Une had lost Treize   
completely by the end of this war. However, Noin had a feeling that Zechs lived through   
the destruction of Libra. Although there was no proof of this, she would stake her own   
life on it. All that remained now was for Zechs to resolve an inner struggle and return   
to the world... whenever that may be.  
  
"Come back soon, Zechs. I'll be waiting..."  
  
  
  
  
(ok, for you fanatics out there, I KNOW the flower that little girl gave Heero was not  
white, but yellow. However, for the purposes of the fan fic, I felt that white represented   
the mood a bit better than yellow.) 


End file.
